Existing networking and interconnect technologies have failed to keep pace with the development of computer systems, resulting in increased burdens being imposed upon data servers, application processing and enterprise computing. This problem has been exasperated by the popular success of the Internet. A number of computing technologies implemented to meet computing demands (e.g., clustering, fail-safe and 24×7 availability) require increased capacity to move data between processing nodes (e.g., servers), as well as within a processing node between, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and Input/Output (I/O) devices.
With a view to meeting the above described challenges, a new interconnect technology, called the InfiniBand™, has been proposed for interconnecting processing nodes and I/O nodes to form a System Area Network (SAN). This architecture has been designed to be independent of a host Operating System (OS) and processor platform. The infiniBand™ Architecture (IBA) is centered around a point-to-point, switched IP fabric whereby end node devices (e.g., inexpensive I/O devices such as a single chip SCSI or Ethernet adapter, or a complex computer system) may be interconnected utilizing a cascade of switch devices. The InfiniBand™ Architecture is defined in the InfiniBand™ Architecture Specification Volume 1, Release 1.0, released Oct. 24, 2000 by the InfiniBand Trade Association. The IBA supports a range of applications ranging from back plane interconnect of a single host, to complex system area networks, as illustrated in FIG. 1 (prior art). In a single host environment, each IBA switched fabric may serve as a private I/O interconnect for the host providing connectivity between a CPU and a number of I/O modules. When deployed to support a complex system area network, multiple IBA switch fabrics may be utilized to interconnect numerous hosts and various I/O units.
Within a switch fabric supporting a System Area Network, such as that shown in FIG. 1, there may be a number of devices having multiple input and output ports through which data (e.g., packets) is directed from a source device to a destination device. Such devices include, for example, switches, routers, repeaters and adapters (exemplary interconnect devices). In addition to multiple communication ports directing external data packets, an interconnect device such as a switch typically includes a management port which handles InfiniBand™ management packets. Management packets are used to implement management functions and may include Sub-Network Management Packets, Performance Management Packets, and Baseboard Management Packets. Further details regarding various management packets are provided in the InfiniBand™ Architecture Specification, Volume 1, Oct. 24, 2000.
Processing of management packets requires additional resources and bandwidth, thereby affecting performance of the interconnect device. Accordingly, it is important to process management packets in an efficient manner.